Palestinian police officers stand guard during a protest over the death of Nizar Banat, a critic of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah in the West Bank, June 26, 2021. Picture taken June 26, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Yet another member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Forces was revealed to be playing a double role.

While Ashraf Al-Sheikh Ibrahim was serving as an officer in the PA Military Intelligence Forces, he was also a member of Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. When Israeli soldiers came to arrest wanted terrorists in Jenin, Ibrahim attacked and shot at them, and was killed by the Israeli forces returning fire.

Ibrahim’s attack, and resulting death as a “Martyr,” earned him praise from the PA/Fatah top echelon, and a military funeral attended by the director of the PA General Security Forces:

“Ashraf Muhammad Amin Ibrahim, 38, died as a Martyr … after he was wounded early yesterday morning during confrontations that broke out following the invasion of Jenin. He is a [PA] General [Military] Intelligence Forces officer…

Masses from among our people accompanied the Martyr’s body in a military ceremony to its final resting place … They carried the Martyr’s body on shoulders while it was wrapped in the Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh of the Fatah Movement to the cemetery, where the body was interred.

Participating in the funeral procession were [PA] General Security Forces Director Brig. Gen. Ahmed Abu Hadid, officers of the forces, and Fatah [Jenin] Branch Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 30, 2023]

At the funeral, Fatah Jenin Branch Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh announced that there is consensus — a “national decision” — among all the different Palestinian political factions to “fight” Israel, as terrorist Ashraf Al-Sheikh Ibrahim did, and “confront it with every weapon” available.

In other words, there is a decision to continue to use terror against Israel:

Fatah Jenin Branch Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh: “There is a national decision in all the factions and all our national institutions to fight this occupation. Wherever the occupation is, we must confront it with every weapon at our disposal, just as heroic Martyr commander Ashraf Al-Sheikh Ibrahim, who died as a Martyr while fighting, fought … He was one of the [PA] General Security Forces officers.”

[Fatah-run Awdah TV, Facebook page, May 29, 2023]

Many Western countries have given money, armed, and even trained the PA Security Forces, in the hope that the Security Forces would fight Palestinian terror. However, the PA and Fatah have been bragging about the participation of their police officers in terror throughout 2022 and 2023.

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed this double role played by PA Security Forces members as cops by day, and terrorists by night.

Abu Rmeileh’s announcement that all factions have endorsed terror reflects a call by PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh a few months ago.

Al-Sheikh urged the different Palestinian factions to unite against Israel and “fight this enemy on all fronts, in all arenas, without exception”:

PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “[Fatah] called on all the Palestinian national action factions to create a broad front against the Israeli aggression. It is no secret that there is a quiet and calm dialogue between us and Hamas. I hope that this dialogue will succeed … You need to fight this enemy [Israel] on all fronts, in all arenas, without exception. You need to fight it on the ground and in the international organizations and authorities. … The central topic in all the leadership’s meetings is strengthening the Palestinian popular resistance against the occupation’s army and the settler herds … This strengthens the Palestinian negotiator and doesn’t weaken him. I said this before: Are we stopping anyone [from resisting]? Are we tying anyone’s hands?” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, “Topic of the Day, “Feb. 27, 2023]

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.